Sbírám

Sbírám is the first-person singular present tense of the Czech verb sbírat, meaning I collect or I am collecting. It is used to describe the ongoing act of gathering objects, information, or experiences. For example: Sbírám známky (I collect stamps); Sbírám houby v lese (I am gathering mushrooms in the forest); Sbírám data pro výzkum (I collect data for research). The sense can cover hobbies as well as routine data collection or attentive gathering of items.

Grammatically, sbírat belongs to the common conjugation of -at verbs in Czech. Present tense forms are: já sbírám, ty sbíráš, on/ona sbírá, my sbíráme, vy sbíráte, oni sbírají. The activity can be described with the noun form sbírání, and the past tense is formed with the auxiliary být plus the past participle (např. sbíral/a jsem).

Etymology and related terms: the verb derives from the Czech noun sbírka meaning a collection or gathering and is cognate with related Slavic forms such as Polish zbierać and Slovak zbierať; these share a common Proto-Slavic root related to gathering or combining.

Usage notes: sbírat contrasts with shromažďovat (to accumulate or assemble more formally) and with sebrat (to pick up in a single action). A person who collects items professionally or as a hobby may be called a sběratel. The term sbírám emphasizes the speaker’s current collecting activity.